Performers raise their swords in front of a portrait of Saudi King Abdullah during a traditional dance rehearsal for the opening of the 28th Janadriya Heritage and Culture Festival, in Janadriya, outskirts of Riyadh April 3, 2013. Three men from the United Arab Emirates were kicked out of the event on Sunday because they were deemed to be "too sexy" by religious police. Photo: REUTERS

Three men were booted out of Saudi Arabia because they were deemed “too handsome” by religious authorities who worried that women would become attracted to them.

Sitting in the stands as delegates from the United Arab Emirates at the Jenadrivah Heritage & Cultural Festival in Riyad on Sunday, nothing seemed to be wrong with the men in question but that didn’t stop the mutaween, Saudi Arabia’s religious police, from charging in and hauling the men away, according to Arabic language newspaper Elaph.

“A festival official said the three Emiratis were taken out on the grounds they are too handsome and that the Commission members feared female visitors could fall for them,” the newspaper reported.

After being dragged out of the event by the Saudi authorities, the three men were subsequently deported back to the UAE.

Saudi Arabia is an extremely conservative Sunni Muslim country and it prohibits women from interacting with men who aren’t their relatives.